Assessing snow leopard (Uncia uncia) by sign surveys and camera trapping in Northern Pakistan

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Assessing snow leopard (Uncia uncia) by sign

surveys and camera trapping in Northern Pakistan Tahir Mahmood

Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management Master Thesis 60 credits 2012

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Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management (INA) Norwegian University of Life Sciences

P.O. Box 5003 N- 1432, Ås Norway

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Department of Animal Sciences Quaid-i-Azam University P.O. Box 45320, Islamabad Pakistan

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The Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management (INA) was found on October 1^st 2003. The department’s subject area includes fundamental biology and ecology, natural resource management and forest science. The department is responsible for education, research and information within its subject area. The education at INA follows international standards and includes Bachelor’s Degree, Master’s Degree and PhD. INA also offers continued and further education.

INA master theses are final thesis submitted by students in order to fulfill the requirements under the INA master program specialization in Natural Resource Management.

tahir.mahmood@student.umb.no, norwegianbird@yahoo.com

INA

Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management P. O. Box 5003

N- 1432, Ås Norway

Tel: +47 64965800 Fax: +47 64965801 Email: ina@umb.no

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I, Tahir Mahmood, declare that this thesis is a result of my research investigations and findings.

Sources of information other than my own have been acknowledged and a reference list has been appended. This work has not been previously submitted to any other university or institution for award of any type of academic degree.

Signature: (Tahir Mahmood)

Date: March 15, 2012, Ås

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Before all, I thank to Almighty Allah, the most Merciful and the Beneficent, who bestowed upon me great opportunity to get study in the University of Life Sciences (UMB) and created potential in me to achieve this research paper successfully. I also offer my humblest thank to our Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), the fountain of knowledge and torch of guidelines for humanity.

This research work proved to be not only adventurous work but also a great professional in terms of human exposure. Starting up something new is always a challenge and especially more challenging in a completely new environment. During this phase of my life, I have seen the world in a script that I never saw before. It wouldn’t be possible to complete this challenge of master thesis without my supervisors and especially my main supervisor. I am deeply and heartiest thankful to my main supervisor, Dr. Richard Bischof for taking me as a master student, for moral encouragement, supporting my efforts and their turnout. I deem it utmost pleasure to avail the opportunity to express my heartiest gratitude to Richard Bischof for his scholastic and constructive suggestions throughout the achievement of this manuscript. He has always been there whenever I needed any help even for minor things. His friendly, encourages and motivated attitude always boosted me up to complete this dissertation. His broad vision and expertise contributed a lot in shaping this manuscript.

I am extremely grateful for my co-supervisor Dr Ali Nawaz (Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad) and chief executive Snow Leopard Foundation (SLF) in Pakistan, for providing great platform for field work. He introduced me the world of wildlife conservation and gave me learning opportunity by join me in his at Gilgit, Pakistan. I also obliged SLF for its material and logistic support throughout field work because without it wouldn’t be able to accomplish this survey.

Special thanks are due to my co-supervisor, Jon Swenson for introducing me to the biodiversity and mammals’ species existing in Pakistan, reading books and some volumes of references, some of them I wouldn’t be able to access and trace myself. I would also like to thanks my co- supervisor Torbjørn Haugaasen for his moral support during my study at INA in addition to thesis write up. I still remember his friendly attitude in spite of great scientist and I feel proud to be a student of such a great scholar, ecologist and scientist.

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I am grateful to Jaffar-ul-Din (Manager SLF) who has been very supportive and encourages in developing capacity for learning this tough survey. He is fantastic and great researcher and without his past experience it was impossible to complete field work. He remained encouraging and thoughtful throughout survey. I am also indebted to his great hospitality during two months I spent in Gilgit. I am thankful to my team members and colleagues Sardar Shoeb, Younus, Muneer and Hussain for their great company during the stay at Gilgit field station and field work. Muneer and Hussain encouraged me a lot while climbing up the dangerous Himalayan Mountains peaks. Shoeb and younus is outstanding field biologist and they cared and guided me a lot during field work and their presence really mattered. I am also thankful to Shoeb for providing me thesis relevant literature and references.

I am also thankful to the Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management (INA) for compensating my field work expenses including flight and travelling in Pakistan. My special thanks to Dost Ali (SLF) for providing GIS maps of study areas. I thank to SLF cook Nseemullah for his care during the stay at field station office Gilgit.

I would also like to thanks all my friends at UMB, GHSS and PU; Mahmood Ayaz, Muhammad Asif, Tahir Qureshi, Yousuf Bhatti, Shahid Nadeem, Muhammad Saqib, Zahid Kahlon, Shahid Kahlon, Farrukh Bajwa, Zulqarnain Ahmad and Yasir Hayat for their moral support, encouragement and inspiration at all stages of my study. Tahir Qureshi is also thanked for taking care of me when I got sick and Muhammad Asif for logistic support whenever I needed while working on my script. I am also grateful to Tahir Mehmood for his assistance in statistical analysis and paying attention every time whenever I visited him. I am extremely thankful to Dr. Nadeem Yaqoob for providing valuable suggestions, motivation and guidelines in many aspects to complete this write up. I learnt a lot from him and it would be hard to write this script without his support.

Finally, I want to express thanks to my family because the words are not easy to explain the feelings towards my family for its support and prayers. My sweet mother enlightened me with Great Spirit of inspiration to achieve this goal. My adorable father Ch. Bashir Ahmad Gujjar’s passion to provide me higher studies, his financial assistance and little push always enabled me to complete my education at the best level. My brother Samroze, my sisters, my cute nephew and nieces’ prayers and well wishes led my ways towards success. I appreciate tolerance which my family had to bear, ‘especially my mother’ during my stay abroad.

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The snow leopard (^{^} ^V ^N ^LÔ Ê ^V ^N ^LÔ ^F) is an elusive carnivore often used as an indicator of human health or a flagship species in conservation programs. Like many other carnivores snow leopard is also an endangered species and needs attention of environmentalists and ecologists for its survival. Its conservation is a challenging issue because it lives in far ranging, large home ranges and its low density population makes difficult to monitor its population. To monitor snow leopards, various noninvasive techniques have been used i.e. camera trapping, sign survey, track plates and Snow Leopard Information Management (SLIM) surveys. We conducted sign surveys and camera trapping in Khunjerab National Park (KNP) in 2010-2011 to evaluate the detection probability (^_ ) and occupancy (ȥ) for the snow leopard presence. Occupancy means the snow leopard actually present in the study area and detection probability means the ratio of snow leopard detected during survey and it is always less than occupancy. The data of camera trapping from Chitral Gol Nation Park (CGNP) collected in 2009 was also used to increase the sample size. We used PRESENCE 2.1 program for sign survey data analysis and logistic regression for the camera trapping data. Detection probability (^_ ) of snow leopard against fresh scrapes sign (<7 days) was 0.600 (S-E. 0.100) and for all combined fresh signs the estimate was 0.646 (S-E.

0.041). Occupancy (ȥ) for snow leopard in the area was estimated to be 0.855 (S-E. 0.043), based on scrapes and 0.849 (S-E 0.100) for all combine fresh signs (scent spray, scats, pugmarks) other than scrapes. Camera trap captured 606 (64%) images of snow leopard of 934 images captured in KNP. The camera trap success rate for all species in KNP was 0.051 per 100 trap nights. In CGNP no snow leopard was photo-captured, however we got we got 25 images of different carnivore species. This makes a low success rate of 0.00053 per 100 trap nights in CGNP. The selected regression model indicates that scent lures successfully attracted canid species but not overall carnivores. Our results suggested that sign surveys and camera trapping are valuable techniques for monitoring carnivores, especially the snow leopards. It is also believed that larger sample size is essential for satisfactory statistical outputs. Moreover lure treatment also proved to be a useful tool to attract carnivores, especially canid species.

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1.1.Importance of monitoring carnivores and snow leopard………...1

1.2.Snow leopard status and conservation……….1

1.3.Conservation of snow leopard………..3

1.4.Challenges monitoring carnivores and snow leopard………..3

1.5.Noninvasive monitoring of carnivores and the snow leopard...4

1.5.1. Camera trapping………5

1.5.2. Camera trapping for snow leopard………5

1.5.3. Occupancy sign surveys………6

f a " & %( . 1 . 6. A g 2.1. Study area………8

2.2. Chitral Gol Nationa Park (CGNP)………..11

2.3. Snow leopard Features………...12

2.4. Site occupancy sign surveys………...14

2.4.1 Data collection...14

2.4.2 Data analysis………..17

2.5. Camera trapping in KNP………...18

2.5.1. Camera trapping in Chitral Gol National Park (CGNP)…...19

2.5.2. Data analysis……….19

^h ^a ^/ ^& ^$ ⁺ ⁶^% ^$ 3.1. Snow leopard occupancy in KNP………20

3.2. Camera trapping results………...22

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3.3. Regression results………24

i a 4 )$ 0 + $ $ ). ; 4.1. Sign surveys and camera trap results discussion………29

4.2. Hypothesis of using scent lures………...30

4.3. General advantages and disadvantages of cameras………...32

4.4. Errors or limitations of our studies………...33

4.5. What are new and future findings in our studies...34

4.6. Suggestions relevant to my research to improve ………...35

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l a / & 3& ' & ; 0 & $ ……….37

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Location of study site, sign surveys and camera trapping stations for monitoring snow leopard within Khunjerab National Park, Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan 2010-20………..9

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Location of study area sites of KNP and CGNP, showing the distance from

each other………...………10

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Location of Chitral Gol National Park and camera trapping (showing in black dots) for snow leopard monitoring in Chitral, 2009…..………...11

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Examples of snow leopard marking behaviour identified during surveys within CGNP and KNP in 2009 and 2010. Figure (a) showing snow leopard scat sample, (b) pugmark and (c) scent spray found in CGNP, while figure (d), (e) and (f) showing scrapes signs observed during occupancy sign survey in KNP………...………..15

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Frequency of different sign types detected from 4 carnivore species during occupancy sign surveys in Khunjerab National Park November-December 2010………..…………20

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Relative frequency of snow leopard sign types detected in association with different topographic categories during occupancy sign surveys in Khunjerab National Park November- December 2010………..21

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Relative frequency of snow leopard sign detected in different vegetation habitat categories during occupancy sign surveys in Khunjerab National Park November-December 2010………22

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Examples of animals detected while camera trapping in KNP 2010. Photo (a) indicate, snow leopard captured in Dhee Augh valley, (b) indicate a wolf detected in Karchanai valley, (c) red fox detected Patkishk, (d) ibex detected in Patkishk, (e) pica detected in Karchanai, (f) stone marmot detected in Dhee Augh, (g) hare detected in Patkishk, (h) bird detected in Dhee Sar………..25

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Both photos (a) and (b) indicate; 1 female photographed with two cubs at SLF-5 digital camera traps above 3410 m in KNP (Karchnai valley 2010)………26

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Probability of photo detection noticed with respect to lure and without lure for

carnivores in CGNP and KNP in 2009 and 2010………..…………28

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Summary of various models run using all snow leopard fresh scrapes (<7 days) to estimate the effect of different site covariates (e.g. ridge and area) on detection probability (P) and occupancy (Psi) of snow leopard using PRESENCE 2.0 software in Khunjerab National Park, 2010…………...23

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Summary of various models run using all snow leopard fresh signs (<7 days) to estimate the effect of different site covariates (e.g. ridge, valley and area) on detection probability (P) and occupancy (Psi) of snow leopard using PRESENCE 2.0 software in Khunjerab National Park, 2010………...23

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Regression models developed to assess the effect of various variables on canid species detected while camera trapping in Chitral Gol Nation Park and Khunjerab National Park in 2009 and 2010-11. Other variables especially “predators detected” were not included due to non- significance effect on detection...27

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Coefficients description of the fitted model with respect to the significance…………27

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During the last decades, habitat loss and fragmentation, illegal hunting, decline prey species, changes in land use patterns, and different diseases have caused significance declines in carnivore populations (Gese 2001). Furthermore, increasing human populations is also another reason for the continued elimination of carnivores. Carnivores like the snow leopard

are kept away from human settlements, as they are real threat for livestock and other competition of game species (Breitenmoser 1998). The decline of carnivore populations has had a great impact on lower trophic level mammals (Terborgh et al. 2001). For these reasons, monitoring and conservation of carnivores has become an important need for most of the ecologist, environmentalists and different agencies and organizations (Gese 2001).

Top predators like the snow leopards are ecologically important. It is also used as flagship and umbrella species for conservation efforts, because its conservation is tightly linked to the overall biodiversity in Central Asian mountain ecosystems (Poyarkov and Subbotin 2002). By protecting the snow leopard and its habitat, the high altitudes grasslands and wetlands are also protected.

Being a top predator of high mountains, it controls the population and health of ungulate species (Moheshwari and Sharma 2010; WWF 2012). In Kanchenjunga Conservation Area (KCA) of Eastern Nepal, the snow leopard was used as flagship species with the implementation of wildlife conservation projects.

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The snow leopard is an elusive large cat that is secretive and shy in nature (Jackson 1996).

According to the IUCN Red List; it is an endangered species (IUCN 2002). It is listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and declared endangered by the US Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Hussain 2003).

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Preferably it inhabits mountains of elevations between 3000 to 4500 m, but can also be found up to 5500 m (Fox 1989; McCarthy and Chapron 2003). In winter it migrates to lower elevation i.e.

900-2500 m in Northern Pakistan, Russia, India and Tien Shan Mountains to follow prey species i.e. ibex (McCarthy and Chapron 2003; Nowell et al. 1996). The snow leopard’s core habitat is cold, arid and semiarid alpine and subalpine ecological zones. It is found in broken and rocky terrain with vegetation of shrubs or grasses (Jackson 1996; McCarthy and Chapron 2003).

Snow leopard is found mainly in the high Himalayan mountainous system of 12 countries;

Bhutan, Nepal, India, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Russia (Jackson and Hunter 1996; Jackson et al. 2006). It is estimated that 4500-7350 snow leopards are present on 1,835,000 km² potential habitat (Fox et al. 1991).

However, McCarthy and Chapron (2003) claimed that 3500 snow leopards are left in the wild and only China contains almost 60% of the snow leopard’s habitat. Nevertheless, its actual status is yet unknown. In Afghanistan, it is estimated that only 100-200 snow leopards are left (Habib 2006). The population figures of snow leopards available in other countries include; 2000-2500 animals in China, 800-1700 individuals in Mongolia McCarthy (2000), about 500 individuals in India Fox et al. (1991), and 150-200 in Russia (Poyarkov and Subbotin 2002).

In Pakistan, the snow leopard is present in the inner Himalayan ranges in all five districts of the Federally Administered Northern Areas (FANA) i.e. Swat, Dir, Chitral, Azad Jammu & Kasmir and in some other Northern Areas districts of North West Frontier Province (NWFP) i.e. Gilgit, Hunza and Baltistan (Malik 1997; Robert 1997b; Wegge 1988). The presence of the snow leopard was affirmed in the Pamir, Braldu, and Batura drainages (Gaines 2001). The total availability of snow leopard habitat in Pakistan is 80,000 km² of which around 50% is supposed

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to be the prime habitat of snow leopard (Fox 1989). According to Schaller (1976) the population of snow leopard in Pakistan is 100-250, but (Malik 1997) estimated it to be 400±50. Hussain (2003) confirmed that only in one Baltistan District, there were 90-120 snow leopards and 300 to 420 in the entire range within Pakistan. Snow leopards also exist in Khunjrab National Park;

most potentially in Dhee nullah (Robert 1997b).

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The snow leopard faces great threats which must be are addressed for the species’ conservation, habitat degradation, declining prey species abundance, habitat fragmentation, diseases anthropogenic activities like war in Afghanistan and military operations in Pakistan (Blomqvist 2005; Nowell et al. 1996). Also, snaring, poaching for bones, pelts and other body parts are common threats in Central Asia. Moreover, retaliatory killing of snow leopard is also a common threat, as a revenge of livestock depredation in the Himalayas region (McCarthy and Chapron 2003).

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For informed the management and conservation of large carnivores, baseline data on population status and trends are essential (Gese 2001). Assessing these, however, is challenging for a number of reasons. Large carnivores are inherently difficult to monitor, due to their low densities, large home ranges, nocturnal and secretive behavior and kinship to remote and far- ranging areas (Gese 2001; Linnell et al. 1998). These challenges are elevated for the snow leopard because it’s densities are especially low, it inhabits some of the most hostile habitat of any cat species and is well camouflaged (Jackson and Hunter 1996; Janecka et al. 2008; Nowell et al. 1996). Its presence at high elevation and prey-poor habitat also impairs monitoring and hinders conservation efforts (Jackson et al. 2006). Additional problems for snow leopard

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monitoring and conservation are posed by a shortage of trained staff and lack of funds (Jackson et al. 2006; Nowell et al. 1996). Therefore, a lack of reliable information on remaining snow leopard population, location of core habitat and decaying regions of this flagship species create challenges for monitoring and conservation (Jackson 1996; Janecka et al. 2008).

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Reliable techniques are always necessary to monitor carnivores for conservation strategies and these techniques are difficult to implement due to elusive, wide ranging and low densities species. Fortunately, non-invasive techniques are increasingly used to monitor multiple species over large area. The selection of technique depends on the species of interest and can be implemented over large area for multiple species (Marucco et al. 2009). Moreover, various challenges of evaluating population and animal welfare concerns have prompted the development of non-invasive methods for monitoring carnivores and other wildlife. Such methods include sign surveys Jackson and Hunter (1996b), fecal genetics (Gompper et al. 2006;

Janecka et al. 2008), camera trapping (Gompper et al. 2006; Jackson et al. 2009), snow tracking and covered track plates and scent stations (Gompper et al. 2006) to estimate population size of secretive mammals including the snow leopard. These methods are useful to provide information regarding wild animals’ distribution and their presence and absence in particular areas (Linnell et al. 1998).

Detailed information about the snow leopard’s status is still confined, since logistic challenges are hard to overcome (Janeþka et al. 2011). However, non-invasive survey methods are proving to be effective for monitoring rare and secretive species such as snow leopards. Specifically, the development of Snow Leopard Information System (SLIMS), have provided a practical and standardized approach for monitoring snow leopards. In SLIMS surveys, repeated sign surveys

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are conducted to evaluate snow leopard abundance. Other non-invasive techniques used for snow leopard monitoring include; genetic analysis, camera trapping and capture-recapture statistical surveys (McCarthy et al. 2008). Interviews of the local communities (Hussain 2003) and DNA sampling of scats and hair are also useful for snow leopard population estimation (Janecka et al.

2008).

During the last decades, remote by triggered camera trapping has become a popular technique for inventories and cryptic species monitoring Kranath (1995) and for conservation (Nichols et al.

2011). Camera trapping is an efficient non-invasive technique that normally causes minimal disturbance to the target species of large-and medium-sized mammals. It works effectively in inaccessible terrain where other field methods fail, and collects data efficiently both day and night (Silveira et al. 2003). Camera traps provide reliable information to wildlife scientists to discover rare and cryptic carnivores’ specific habitat distribution, relative and absolute abundance and their activity behavior (Karanth 1995; O'Connell et al. 2011; Silveira et al. 2003) . It requires high initial cost, careful attention and experienced field staff and its performance depends somewhat on weather conditions, (Silveria et al. 2003; Janicka et al 2011; Swann et al.

2011). Camera stations are usually set along animal trails or other environmental features that enhance capture probability Jackson et al. (2005), and in some studies baited camera stations have been used (Trolle and Kery 2005).

Camera trapping is a reliable and successful technique to give information on abundance and distribution of snow leopard (Janeþka et al. 2011). Inaccessible and rugged snow leopard habitat makes it difficult to set and maintain camera stations (Jackson et al. 2006). However, camera

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trapping always easy identification and differentiation of individual snow leopards based on their discrete pelage patterns. Every animal has unique characteristics of shape, size and color of individual spots and rosettes. Pelage trends are irregular and vary mostly between the lower side’s limbs and tail (Jackson et al. 2005).

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Likewise, sign surveys are a widely used technique for monitoring large carnivores. It has been done to estimate the presence, absence and distribution patterns of carnivores (Schaller and Crawshaw 1980). During the survey, transects/points are explored to find carnivore sign, such as pugmarks, scrapes, tracks, feces, droppings and pellets etc. It is also assumed that rich carnivore- populated area contain more sign (Linnell et al. 1998). Sign surveys are an efficient way to evaluate the presence and abundance of snow leopards for further conservation (Ahlborn 1988).

For example, in northern India, it was found that sign surveys could be used effectively to examine snow leopard populations where the density is more than 2 or 3 individual/100 km² (Jackson et al. 2006). Similarly, Ahlborn and Jackson (1988) also conducted sign surveys in Nepal and confirmed that it is an effective technique for snow leopard presence and relative abundance estimation. Sign surveys have some advatages and disadvantages. For example, i) they have low cost, compares with other survey techniques, ii) sign survey can cover larger areas, iii) they can detect far-ranging and rare species, even the target species does not have to be at the survey location at the time of the survey. In contrast, during sign surveys, i) it may be possible to misidentify sign, especially due to insufficiently trained researchers or obscured sign ii) the age of sign is often not clear, iii) individual species can not be distinguish easily, iv) unfavourable environmental conditions i.e. heavey rain, snow or wind between the time of sign deposition and the survey can reduce detection.

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Occupancy is defined as the probability that a site or area is occupied by the targeted species (O’

Connell and Bailey 2011). However, the relationship between sign frequency and snow leopard density is still poorly described to measure its population. Therefore, conservationists need repeated and consistent surveys to find snow leopard changes in the population (Jackson et al.

2006). Estimating the proportion of sites occupied by a target species is valuable in both long- terms monitoring projects and collecting population trends data Gittleman and Gompper (2001) and it can be an alternative or complement to abundance estimation.

The present study was conducted in Khunjerab National Park (KNP) within the snow leopard range in Pakistan (Qureshi et al. 2011). Despite a growing understanding of the snow leopards’

distribution and ecology, many areas remain un-surveyed and information about its population status is limited. I used two non-invasive survey methods, sign-based occupancy surveys and camera trapping, with the following main objectives:

1) Estimate snow leopard occupancy on KNP in Pakistan using sign surveys and camera trapping.

2) Test whether the application of scent lures increases the effectiveness of capturing carnivores with camera traps in Pakistani mountain ecosystems (KNP, with additional data from Chitral Gol National Park).

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study was conducted in Khunjerab National Park (74° 55’ E to 75° 57’ E and 36° 01’ N to 37° 02’ N , KNP), located within Gilgit Baltistan, formerly known as Northern Areas (NAs) of Pakistan. In Pakistan, 14 national parks exist and KNP is the third biggest park (WWF Pakistan 2011) of them with an area of 50031 km² (Fig. 1) (SLF 2012). KNP has an elevation ranging from 3200 m to 6000 m Wegge (1988) and is the world’s highest park, with average elevation over than 4000 m (Shafiq 1998; Wegge 1988). The park contains rugged peaks and glaciers.

Two main rivers, Khunjerab and Ghunjerab, flow through the park. It also comes under IUCN’s Protected Areas Category II, which defines it as an area set aside “Protected Area (PA)” for ecosystem protection and management (Imam 2007).

KNP consists of three main-valleys; Khunjerab (through which the Karakoram Highway passes), Ghujerab and the remote Shimshal Valley. Most of the valleys have stone beds surrounded by gravel hill slopes but a few are hilly slopes with almost 50% soil particles (Qureshi et al. 2011).

My study took place in Khunjerab Valley and the surrounding mountains.

In KNP summers are dry and hot, and from July to August, the average temperatures can rise to 14°C. Winters are cold and severe and during winter, there is much snow and temperatures reach down to -12°C from December to January (Green 1990).

The park contains four types of vegetation zones; dry alpine scrub^À moist alpine pastures, dry alpine plateau pastures and sub-alpine scrub and birch (^Á ^Â ^Ã ) forests. Tree and shrub species include ^Ä ^Ã ^Å ^Æ^À ^Á ^Â ^Ã ^Â^Ã^Å and ^Ç ^È ^É ^Ê ^À ^Ë ^Ì ^Í ^Ã ^Í ^Å and ^Å are main grass species (Qureshi et al. 2011).

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Figure 1. Location of study site, sign surveys and camera trapping stations (shown as white dots and green boxes respectively) for monitoring snow leopard within Khunjerab National Park, Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan 2010-2011.

My researches focused on the snow leopard, but in the park are found two reptilian, 46 avian and 25 mammalian species (Qureshi et al. 2011). Medium-sized and large mammals include the brown bear ^Å ^Å ^Â^Í ^Å , red fox (^Î ^Ã ^Å ^Ï ^Ã ^Å ) and Indian wolf ( ^Å ^Ã ^Å ^Ã^Ã ^Å ) etc (Khan 1996; Shafiq 1998) and several ungulate species Marco Polo sheep ^Ð ^Ï ^Å ^Ê ^Ê ^Í ^Í ^Ã , blue sheep (^Ì ^Å ^Ë ^Í ^Å ^È and Himalayan ibex (Khan 1996; Qureshi et al. 2011; Shafiq 1998). Small mammals include Golden marmot ^Ç ^Ê ^Í ^Â ^Ë ^Â ^À cape hare ^Ñ ^Å ^Å ^Å ^À migratory hamster ^Â ^Ã ^Å ^Ê ^É ^Â^Í ^Å and field mouse ^Ç ^Å ^Ê ^Å ^Ã ^Å ^Ò ^Å ^Ó ^Â ^Ã^Æ

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Figure 2. Location of study area sites of KNP and CGNP, showing the distance from each other.

KNP contains no permanent human settlements but a few shepherds move in during different periods. The closest settlement is in Shimshal Valley at the southern boundary, comprising of six small villages with a total of 355 households and almost 1740 people (Imam 2007). Disturbance factors include livestock grazing, hut and corral construction, fuel wood collection, and poaching (Wegge 1988). The park’s limited staff and funds are insufficient to combat poaching, which threatens the park’s small population of endangered Marco Polo sheep (Knudsen 1992).

Furthermore, livestock depredation, mostly by snow leopard and wolves, leads to illegal killing of carnivores through hunting, trapping and poisoning (Ahmad 1996).

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Figure 3. Location of Chitral Gol National Park (CGNP) and camera trapping (showing in black dots) for snow leopard monitoring in Chitral, 2009.

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CGNP was established in 1984 and is located in North West Frontier Provinces (71ô42’12.60” E, 35ô53’30.34” N, NWFP) (Fig.2). Due to a very small number of functional camera traps in KNP, I also included camera trapping data from Chitral Gol National Park (CGNP) in my analysis (Fig. 3). The park consists of an area 77.5 km² and lies in the Hindu Kush Mountains, with an elevation from 1450 to 4979 m (Inamu-ur-Rahim 2005). In summers, the park’s average temperature is 29ôC but it sometimes reaches beyond 35ôC. Winters are cold and severe and

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sometimes temperatures drop to -20ôC. The park receives 462 mm precipitation annually (Inamu-ur-Rahim 2005). The park consists of alpine meadows and temperate forests. Snowy and cold winters and dry summers create drought-resistant and cold-tolerant vegetation in the park (Wildlife of Pakistan 2007). In CGNP, 42 mammal species were confirmed (Robert 1997a) Present research covered the Himalaya mountain system in Pakistan; a well known area for snow leopard habitat. The Himalayan mountain system stretches between latitudes of 26ô20' N and 35ô 40' N and longitude 74ô50' E and 95ô 40' E (Ives 2006) and extends from east to west with the total length of 2400 km and width from 150 to 300 km (Negi 1998). These are high altitude peaks and glacial land with 12,000 feet average peak height (Menon 1954). The system goes across several Asian countries including Bhutan, Nepal, China, India and Pakistan (Ives 2006).

The Himalayas receive a variety of climatic conditions. A heavy monsoon rainy season dominates from June to December. Himalaya’s summers (April – June) are hot while, winters (November-March) are cold and severe. In winter temperatures fall below the freezing point and snow falls above an elevation of 2000 m (Negi 1998). The Himalayas contains tropical forest below 1500 m, but few oak trees can be seen even above 1500 m. Coniferous forest prevails above 2500 m but some alpine meadows occur near 3500 m. Probably, the drier west and the humid east regions of Himalayas are known to be the habitat of snow leopard. In Pakistan, the Himalayas extend southeast to northwest from Indian occupied Jammu & Kashmir to Azad Kashmir Pakistan.

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The snow leopard’s length is approximately 100-120 cm long with a tail of 80-100 cm (Robert 1997a). It has a shoulder height of 56-60 cm (Fox 1989; Robert 1997a). Adults have body weight

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between 35-55 kg (Habib 2006; Schaller 1977). It has a small nose with short rounded ears and powerful jaws (Robert 1997). The body has whitish grey color with scattered irregular black spots (McCarthy and Chapron 2003). It can live up to 21 years in captivity (Fox 1989), but (Blomquist 1982) claimed that it can live 12 years in captivity and half of that in wild habitats.

The snow leopard’s mating season starts between January and mid-March, which coincides with a peak of scent marking and vocalization (Ahlborn 1988; Wilson 2009). Both males and females scent mark frequently, but the male does this more often (Blomquist 1982). Following 93-110 days of gestation, females give birth to 1-5 cubs in June or July (McCarthy and Chapron 2003), with typical litter sizes of 2-3 cubs (Habib 2006).

Snow leopard prey mainly on large wild goats and sheep; such as Bharal or blue sheep, argali (^Ð ^Ï ^Å ^Ê ^Ê ), urial sheep (^Ð ^Ï ^Å ^Í ^Â ^Ã^Å ), Siberian ibex ( ^Å ) (Schaller et al. 1988) Himalayan tahr (^Ü ^Ê ^Â ^É ^Å ^Ý ^Ê ^Ã ^Ó ^Å ) and markhor ( ^Þ ^Ã ^Í ) (Wilson 2009). Smaller prey species including Marmots (^Ç ^Ê ^Í ^Â ^Å ^À pikas (^Ð ^Ó ^Í ^Â^Í ^Å ^Ë zokors (^Ç ^È ^Í ^Å ^Ã

Å are important food items (Schaller et al. 1988; Wilson 2009). It also eats domestic sheep, goats, cows, yaks and dogs. Unusually, some scat samples show that the cat also eats some vegetation i.e. twigs of Mryricaria and bushes (Tamaricaceae) (Wilson 2009). Snow leopards can kill animals more than three times its own body weight (McCarthy and Chapron 2003; Schaller 1977) and kills the prey species with the bite on their nape or throat (Wilson 2009).